Leather-splitting machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l G. L. TYLER.

LEATHER SPLITTING MACHINE.

No. 378,186. Patented Feb.21, 1888.

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

G. L. TYLER. LEATHER SPLITTING MACHINE.

Patented Feb. 21,1888.

Wit 25525.

N. PCTEas, Pnmmlilhogmmn Wallington. D c.

NiTnn STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

GEORGE L. TYLER, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

LEATHER-SPLITTING MACHlNE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,186, dated February 21, 1888 Application filed October 28, 1855.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. TYLER, of Lynn, county of Essex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Leather-Splitting Machines, of which the following is a specification, taken in connection with the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, in which- Figure l is a side elevation showing the essential part of a crude form of leather-splitting machine, designed merely to illustrate how the splittingknife and opener may be arranged relatively to each other and to the table and feed-rolls. Fig. 2 is a plan of the splitting knife and opener with the supporting-table broken away. Fig. 3 is a section on line .22, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section on line y y, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a plan view ofa machine embodying my invention, and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the same.

For the purpose of utilizing pieces of scrapleather it has been found expedient to split them centrally, leaving a hinge at one edge, and then to open out the flaps or halves formed by the split into the same plane, thus producing a piece having, say, twice or three times the area of the original unsplit piece and onehalf or one-third its thickness, as will be understood more clearly by reference to Letters Patent No. 213,364, dated March 18, 1879, granted to J. M. lVatson. In order to accomplish this work, I have designed the hereinafter-described invention,which consists, essentially, of a splitting-knife, opener, and suitable guide adapted to be placed in a very simple form of machine, such as is illustrated in the drawings hereof, or in a more elaborate form of machine, such as is fully shown and described in an application for letters patent therefor made by me of even date herewith, reference to which may be had.

I will describe my invention with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like letters of reference.

A is a supporting-frame, which may be of any suitableshape, and B is a table from which the stock is fed between the rolls 0, which feed it onto the splitting-knife D. The feed rolls 0 may be geared together and driven in any Well-known manner, and I prefer to make them Serial No. 180,761. (No model.) Patented in England July 8, 1884, No. 9,922, and in Canada July 28, 1884, No. 10,848.

of the slightly-conical form described in Letters Patent No. 319,357, dated J one 2, 1885, granted to me. Directly behind the feed-rolls I place the knife D,with its cutting-edge projecting well into the nip of the rolls, as shown in Fig. 1. This knife may be supported upon a suitable support or table, E, and secured thereto, so as to be adjustable toward or from the nip of the rolls, in order that as it is ground down it may be set forward.

As a means of attaching it to the support E, I have shown two slots in its shank, designed to receive bolts a, provided with set-screws, which may be used to secure it firmly to the support E. The knife D is ofthe shape shown, Figs. 1, 2, and 5, and is cut away rearwardly at either side to receive the opener H, which is designed to receive the split piece of leather as it passes the end of the knife and spread the flaps apart until they are nearly or quite in the same plane at the rear end of the opener, at which point they are caught between the rolls ff and pressed into a flat piece, having twice the area which it had when it was fed onto the splittingknife. The opener H is of the form shown by the cross-section, Fig. 3, at its forward end nearest the splittingknife, and its sides gradually flare or spread, as shown by the section, Fig. 4, and by the side views, Figs. 1 and 6, until at its rear end nearest the rollsff it is almost or quite Hat. The precise shape of the flaring opener is not essential, provided it be small enough at the front end next the knife to receive the hinged or newly-split piece of stock as it leaves the knife, and flat enough at its rear end next the presserrolls f f to spread the flaps of the stock, so that the split piece may pass between the rolls with the flaps outspread, and thus be pressed into a flat piece.

The opener may be secured to the bed on which the knife rests by means of its shank H,which is slotted to receive the clampingbolts 1) b, which pass through the support E in corresponding slots out at right angles to the slots in shank H, as shown, Fig. 2. By means of these slots the opener may be adjusted relatively to the knife and guide, and may be moved forward with the knife when it is adjusted to the rolls after being ground. The opener may also be adjusted in order that its face nearest the guide K, Figs. 2 and 5, may

be set at an angle therewith, so that the rear end of the opener will be farther inward or back than its front end, as shown, Figs. 2 and 5. To permit of thus adjusting the opener away from the guide its front end is beveled or cut away rearwardly, as shown at Z, Fig. 2. By thus setting the rear end of the opener back a clearance-space is made between the guide K and the opener, so that the hinge of the split piece may pass toward the pressingrolls f f with less friction. For the same reason the knife-blade gradually narrows as it recedes from its cutting-edge, as shown, Figs. 2 and 5. It will be obvious, however, that while the machine operates more freely when the space between the knife end and opener and the guide increases rearwardly, it is not absolutely essential to the operation of the machine. A square-cornered knife may also be employed with an opener constructed and adjusted as above described with very good results; or the guide may be so set as to diverge slightly from the opener rearwardly of the cutting-edge of the knife,when the same results will be obviously obtained.

The splitting-knife is ground or beveled on both sides to a cutting-edge, and is likewise beveled on either side at the ends, although they are left blunt or dull in order to prevent any liability of cutting the hinge of the split piece and completely separating the two flaps. By this construction the knife may be turned over when one end becomes dulled and the other end used before the knife is ground.

The space between the end of the edge portion of the splitting-knife and the guide K determines obviously the thickness of the hinge or unsplit portion of the piece of stock, and this may be increased or diminished, as desired, by adjusting the knife on its support E toward or from guide K.

In the embodiment of myinvention shown in Figs. Sand 6 the vertical pressing-rolls f f are shown as being connected by a train of rearwardly by the feed-rolls the two flaps of the u split piece will be spread apart by the opener H, so that they will both be vertical, or nearly so,when they reach the pressing-rolls f f, and, being thus in the same plane,will be in position to be seized by the said rolls and pressed out flat by being passed between thenn.

Vhat I claim is- 1. In a leather-splitting machine, the piece H, shaped as shown,with a narrow end adapted to enter the cut made by the knife in the leather and flaring rearwardly, whereby the flaps of the split piece are separated as they pass over it and are brought toward the same plane, substantially as shown and described.

2. In aleather-splitting machine, a splittingknife, in combination with a flaring opener set rearwardly of the edge of said knife, whereby as a piece of leather which has been split to a hinge at the edge passes the knife the flaps of the split piece will be spread toward or into the same plane, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in a leathensplitting machine, of the splittingknife, the flaring opener, and the guide, substantially as de scribed.

4. The combination,with the feed-rolls of a leather splitting machine, of the splittingknife, the opener, the guide, and a pressing roll or rolls, whereby as the split piece passes the knife it is spread and pressed into a flat piece, substantially as described.

, GEORGE L. TYLER.

In presence of ROBERT WALLACE, lVIILAN F. STEVENS. 

